May 17 (SeeNews) - The association of leasing companies in Serbia, ALCS, said on Wednesday that the aggregate value of new leasing contracts signed by its members in the first quarter of 2017 rose by 18.7% on the year to 69 million euro ($76.5 million).
The total value of new leasing contracts for commercial vehicles and trucks came in at 28 million euro in the first three months of 2017, while the value of leasing deals for passenger car deals totalled 26 million euro, the association said in a statement. Comparative figures were unavailable.
The value of leasing contracts for machinery and equipment amounted to 11 million euro and in the real estate sector the value of contracts in the real estate sector totalled 5 million euro, the association said.
"The economy is gradually recovering, and the owners of small and medium enterprises are increasingly opting for leasing, as an investment in business. This situation is one of the important growth factors identified in the quarterly and annual analyses that we make," the general secretary of ALCS, Teodora Milenkovic, said in the statement.
The greatest interest in leasing was registered among companies active in transport and information activities, with new contracts worth 19 million euro, followed by mining and manufacturing companies, with 13 million euro, and wholesale and retail trade firms, with 11 million euro.
($ = 0.901491 euro)